"Clearly any effect of fluoride is highly arguable. Only North Lincs is fluoridated and it's not the best in the region.

"Hull comes 16th in the league, or 6th from bottom. Worse dental health can be found in: Barnsley, Wakefield, Kirklees, Calderdale and Bradford. Hull councillors might consider what methods were successful nationally and what authorities worse than us intend doing."

Ryedale has got the best teeth in Y&H (0.30) on a negligible 0.05 mg/l of fluoride in the water supply.

Harrogate is next (0.55) with similar low natural fluoride in the water.

North Lincs is next (0.60) and is fluoridated at 1mg/l (or 1ppm).

Selby is 4th (0.62) with 0.07 mg/l in its water supply.

Craven is 5th (0.64).

East Yorkshire is 6th with 0.74 and, like Hull, has 0.12 mg/l natural fluoride.

"However, there's a high correlation between well–off authorities and areas which have high index of multiple deprivation – and health decay. Generally speaking, the worse off an authority, the higher the level of tooth decay."

The White Poppy and the Red Poppy are two sides of the same coin. But how will we use it?

Both poppies have a great history.

The White Poppy began to be sold in 1933. It was to stand for all war deaths, an end to wars, and for peace. This came after the 1928 international Kellogg Briand Pact where leading nations agreed to renounce and outlaw war.

A 100 years ago, 90% of the deaths in war were of soldiers. Now, the case for the white poppy is stronger than ever, as 90% of deaths in modern wars, are deaths of civilians. Of those 'dying for their country' now, only 1 in 10 are soldiers.

A lot of people don't know the backstory to the Red Poppy.

In 1918 when the men came back from war, they were furious. They had watched so many of their friends die - in slaughter - in murder as the last veteran told us a few years ago - in the 'war to end all wars' - and which didn't. They had seen so many of their brave comrades cut down, lions led by donkeys.

Officials recognised that something had to be done to help defuse the anger of the hundreds of thousands of men, all trained in arms, who were returning to their country – and to be forgotten by the ruling system.

General Haig was very aware of this anger and wished to support ex-soldiers but also to protect the status quo. So the British Legion was born.

The British Legion soaked up the other ex-servicemen's organisations - except, notably, the NUX, the National Union of Ex-servicemen, which survived until 1922.

Soon Haig and the British Legion adopted the red poppy - via America and France - and this was first sold around the country in 1921, in memory of the military dead.

In 1922 the hundreds of thousands of NUX members were encouraged to join the Labour Party, and others, to work for a fairer country.

In 1923, the Labour Party helped form the government for the first time, and former servicemen became part of the first attempt to create a 'land fit for heroes'.

The question now is: in a country at war for most of this century, so far, and daily taught to hate enemy countries, and many groups of people, what do we know about peace?

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

The BBC, DM, S*n etc, want us to feel outraged today at Syrian refugees who dare to come to this country and dare to lie about their ages. The sooner we see the corporate media as tools of the state like some Machiavellian Dick Dastardly tempting us like lemmings over a cliff, the better.

There are clues in the headlines: Syria and refugees. The first thing we should think when we hear Syria is the Middle East, the pre-eminent centre of oil energy in the world. The second thing we should think is The List. Syria is on America's list going back to the 90s. This is basic modern history with one proviso - it has to get beyond the propaganda.

If the corporate mainstream media were doing their job, there wouldn't have been an Iraq war. Nor a million deaths on our collective conscience. Instead, we have dark actors like Tony Blair trotted out to say he'd do it all over again, as if the amount of death his view of the world depends on were remotely acceptable.

The US DOD List means almost certainly that the Syrian 'civil war' was no accident. Were the media committed to anything like the truth, there would be no war in Syria. By media now I mean not only our mainstream media, which is craven, but America's, even more a basket case, and probably France's (since they're joining our hegemonic foreign policy). The List, post-9/11, was aimed at destroying 7 countries in 5 years. They're behind schedule.

The second clue is 'refugee'. The word goes back to one of our most gloried times: postwar Britain. The surge of national pride carried on for years and included the 1951 Refugee Convention where we would take in people fleeing war.

Now we want to know how old they are! Or examine their teeth! Or leave it to Ealing Council to take some in! But even this probably reflects the pressure of ordinary people across the country wanting us to do our bit, and not leave it to Germany - or Greece. So keep the pressure up. WE should clear the Calais camp, not the French bulldozers. Why? Because we can and 5000 won't kill us.